Big business: The 25 top grossing Christmas films

Christmas vacation is a great time to download a movie or pop in a DVD (or, if you’re really behind the times, a VHS tape) – especially this year, as the weather makes staying inside seem prudent.

It’s also often a good time for movie producers to lure people to the theaters. Christmas movies are big business, both at the box office when they’re released and later as they’re shown ad infinitum on cable channels.

There are a number of lists online of the top-grossing Christmas movies, all with varying order depending on how the money is counted. But here is the most recent list of the Top 25, according to Imdb (all money figures are in millions of dollars).

1. Home Alone (1990) The tale of a kid left home by himself and his wacky schemes to fend off would-be burglars. $285.76

2. The Grinch (2018) A new animated tale based on Dr. Seuss’ book. $270.62

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) Jim Carrey stars as the Grinch, with a backstory. $260.04

4. The Polar Express (2004) A magical adventure that brings the popular book to life. $183.37

5. Home Alone 2 : Lost in New York (1992) The kid is alone again, the revengeful burglars are after him and Donald Trump makes a guest appearance. $173.59

6. Elf (2003) The tale of a giant elf who sets out from the North Pole for New York City to find his dad. $173.4

7. The Santa Claus (1994) Tim Allen is a divorced dad who accidentally becomes Santa Claus and his son’s hero. $144.83

8. The Santa Clause 2 (2002) Santa Claus has to find a suitable Mrs. Claus to continue his reign as the jolly gift-giver. $139.24

9. A Christmas Carol (2009) Jim Carrey as another Christmas grouch in an animated retelling of the classic Dickens tale. $137.86

10. Four Christmases (2008) A couple struggles to visit all four divorced parents for Christmas. $120.15

11. Daddy’s Home 2 (2017) A movie that obviously did much better than the original version, about two adult men living with intrusive fathers. $104.03

12. The Santa Clause 3 (2006) Santa must find a way to keep Jack Frost from hijacking Christmas. $84.5

13. Die Hard (1988) Yes, it’s a Christmas movie! Bruce Willis thwarts the plots of an evil German on Christmas Eve. $83.01

14. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) An animated mash-up of Halloween and Christmas. $75.08

15. Christmas with the Kranks (2004) Empty nesters decide to skip Christmas until their daughter unexpectedly returns home. $73.78

16. A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) Moms struggle to outdo moms for Christmas. $72.11

17. Fred Claus (2007) Santa’s ne’er-do-well brother has to help Santa prepare for Christmas. $72.01

18. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) The misadventures of Clark Griswold as he attempts a happy family Christmas. $71.32

19. The Best Man Holiday (2013) College friends reunite after 15 years and rediscover romances and rivalries. $70.53

20. The Holiday (2006) Two women who swap homes in the U.S. and U.K. find unlikely romance. $63.22

21. Jingle All the Way (1996) Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to terminate his competition for the most popular Christmas toy. $60.57

22. Scrooged (1988) Bill Murray is a modern-day Scrooge learning his lesson from three spirits on Christmas Eve. $60.33

23. Bad Santa (2003) A conman and his partner have their efforts to rob a store derailed by a troubled kid. $60.06

24. Love Actually (2003) A rom-com that follows eight couples in the month leading up to Christmas. $59.7

25. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) A young girl finds herself transported to a magical world. $54.86